Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Or, in this case, "THE TOP O' THE EVENING TO YOU!"

(A little late, but better late than never, right?)

As I was thinking about what to post for St. Paddy's Day, once again a favorite movie comes to mind. "The Quiet Man" is yet another one of my all time favorites (hey, being an only child in the middle of nowhere in the 50's and 60's, I saw A LOT of movies and read A LOT of comic books, ok?)



Here is the plot, as posted in Wikipedia:

Sean Thornton (John Wayne), an Irish-American from Pittsburgh, returns to Ireland to reclaim his family's farm in Innisfree. He meets and falls in love with the fiery Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), the spinster sister of the bullying, loud-mouthed landowner "Red" Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen). Danaher, angry that Sean outbid him for the land adjacent to his property, initially refuses to sanction the marriage until several town locals, including the parish priest, conspire to trick him into believing that the wealthy Widow Tillane wants to marry him, but only if Mary Kate is no longer living in the house. After learning the truth on Sean and Mary Kate's wedding day, an enraged Will refuses to give his sister her full dowry.

Sean, unschooled in Irish customs, cares nothing about the dowry, but Mary Kate is obsessed with obtaining it, the dowry representing her independence, identity, and pride. Angered and shamed by Sean's refusal to confront her brother and demand what is legally hers, she brands him a coward, and, despite living together, they are estranged as husband and wife. The truth about Sean, however, is known only to one other person in the village, the Church of Ireland minister "Snuffy" Playfair (Arthur Shields). Sean is a former boxer in the United States, a heavy weight champion known as "Trooper Thorn." After accidentally killing an opponent in the ring, Sean hung up his gloves, vowing never to fight again.

Later, in an attempt to force Sean to confront Red, Mary Kate leaves him and boards a train departing the village, although she continually looks around to see if he is coming after her. Infuriated, Sean arrives and drags her off the train, and, followed by the townspeople, forces her to walk the five miles to Red's farm. Sean demands that Red hand over her dowry. Red finally relents and gives him the cash, but to his horror, Mary Kate and Sean throw it into a furnace, showing that Mary Kate never cared about the money, but only that Sean stand up for his wife. Sean and Will slug it out through the village, stop for a drink, brawl again, then become best friends. Sean regains Mary Kate's love and respect, Red and the Widow Tillane begin courting, and all is well, at least in Innisfree.

This movie has it all...great acting, beautiful scenery, romance, comedy and a CLASSIC fight scene. If you have never seen it, I wholeheartedly recommend it! Here is the trailer...it REALLY doesn't do it justice!...{PAUSE MY PLAYLIST OVER ON THE RIGHT FIRST!}



"The Quiet Man" was even featured in "E.T.", but I couldn't find the clip. Remember when ET gets drunk and Elliott feels the effect at school? E.T. is watching "The Quiet Man" when John Wayne grabs Maureen O'Hara lays a big kiss on her? Elliott does the same thing to his "crush" at school. Remember?

Finally, in honor of St. Paddy's Day, I want to mention that my Senior Pastor and our Youth Pastor from our church are in Ireland this week! You can read about their travels here and here

Here are some photos: first of all, "The Quiet Man Bridge"



Will Danaher's house:



How about Blarney Castle:




Apparently you have to lean over backward while kissing the "Blarney Stone"...



more beautiful views:








AHHHHH...maybe someday...

Gotta go. Lauren just walked in the door! She is home for a couple days! WHOOO HOOOO!!!!